<p>Faline, can you describe further what you are saying - I'm confused...</p>
<p>Are you saying he did 3 tests:
1. Open book - meaning he answered it , then checked the answer to see if he was right or wrong
2. Regular timed test
3. ????</p>
<p>I'm going to buy the RED Real Act book today....</p>
<p>We chose The Real ACT Prep Guide because it included three actual ACT tests. (It's mighty hard to use the Xiggi Method if one doesn't have a few actual tests to work with.) I can't comment on the Chapter effectiveness, but the tests helped for sure.</p>
<p>Ok, sure. My point is that speed and test strategy is a skill set that has to be developed for the ACT and the SAT differently. A separate skill set is about simple comprehension of nuance and content of the actual questions.
So...it is perhaps wise to begin with studying why you are making errors...by carefully studying the answers in a time frame when you can absorb the content of the answer book advice. Even if you got a correct answer, the answer discussion might have shed some light on how you could have gotten their with more speed and clarity.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with taking a baseline test first and then going over the answers later..but that takes a half day of your time. I think it is sometimes psychologically smart to do a section of the test at a time, and then to really immerse yourself in the answer section, even studying the answers you got right to see if you are being efficient and to better understand the test itself. This "start" sometimes helps you get over the hump of avoidance.</p>
<p>There is no mistaking though that it is more valuable to use the rest of your tests in REAL TIME sit-downs without interruptions. This takes some discipline, but if you are then really devoted to studying errors, you will make progress. Neither of my son's had formal test prep, and both significantly improved their own test scores by simply working the Real SATS blue book and the red book ACTs. </p>
<p>Our son was busy from 6am till midnight too many days a week..no time for prep courses, plus he is a very good student and is capable of self prep GIVEN TIME. So..it is hard to carve out the entire half day needed to do a serious baseline test. You have to plan for it, be reasonably fed, snacked and rested. Before doing the real deal sit-down.....he simply worked his way through both the first real ACT and at least one or two the real SATs by sitting down and doing the exams in sections in smaller, less onerous chunks of time (45 minutes perhaps), then going straight to the explanations and really really absorbing the answer discussion (buy Testmasters Complete Solutions to College Board's the Official SAT Study Guide for FULSOME answer discussions of blue book exams..the red Real ACT answers are sufficient for ACT tests.)
His score was higher on the ACT but son number 2 is a very productive efficient person and I suppose was rewarded for completeness on the exam. He did report that he thought the ACT was as hard as the SAT...although he did better on the ACT...so I think he meant..the ACT is dense and long and covers a lot of material.
First son has matching ACT and SAT scores...but he then took on SAT prep very similar to Xiggi's method...at the last minute and raised his SAT scores to a ridiculous improvement level...based on simply taking responsibility to prep for that test in his room on Sunday afternoons.<br>
good luck...your goal is to get to your highest performance and then to be happy with yourself when you approach your best. Son number 2 is not taking any more of these tests as a senior...his SAT sittings became equivalents, his ACT was great...and he is not going to do it over to try for perfect scores..not his style...but he feels he probably could not improve and he is likely right, so time to quit.</p>
<p>Thank you - that about wraps our situation up - S is willing to prep but has to be realistic and knows he can't spend hours and hours on it at a time. Yes, small bursts of time with a timed whole test perhaps closer to test date...</p>
<p>Sometimes I even wonder if it is helpful to start months before you actually take the test...or would it be better to try and devote time several times a week say a month before the actual test????</p>
<p>I told son number two...to do a couple of Open Book exams in small chunks ..and he felt this was somehow a more pleasurable immersion as a first run into serious prep. His sense of readiness was also better when he went to his room to do the "whole thing" later. There just is no way around it though...you must do actual full timed tests with no more breaks than you get on test days...if you expect to address your weak links on these exams. You have to find where you stumble/lose concentration..and few students will do the tests without taking breaks so they don't get a reality base on how they are really doing.</p>
<p>We did a private tutor. She is a teacher at a local private school and only charged $30 per hour. She looked at D's PLAN and then sent her a practice test to work on...not timed. We sent that back and when she scored it she said she would work with her for three hours. Best $$ we ever spent. She said the biggest and easiest place to make improvements or almost a perfect score on a section is the English. Hardly anyone remembers basic grammer anymore and that is all there is to this section.</p>
<p>I have heard from many people that English is easiest. My D. did not prepare for it at all. She got 35 on this section, which was her highest. Her opinion was that if you speak English, than it is very hard to make mistakes in English section. She did not get perfect 36, so obviously she made mistakes, but not many. Any way, preparing for ACT for longer than 1 week is probably overdoing it. They still have other stuff to do like keep up GPA, ECs, APs, ....</p>
<p>Practicing by doing some "real ACT" tests worked well for our 3 kids.</p>
<p>Too late for the best way- learn the material in your classes. Do a free practice test, or two. I am amazed at the lengths people will go to instead of concentrating on learning the material when it is presented at no extra cost in time or money during the school years.</p>
<p>Wis, unfortunately I don't agree. </p>
<p>Every school system varies what they teach. </p>
<p>Every teacher teaches differently and each class of a subject gets through different degrees of material - some more material, some less.</p>
<p>Some students don't perform as well under standardized test conditions. </p>
<p>My S for example is a very, very bright student. He has excellent study habits - but, for sure, he has to study! His grades show that he is obviously "learning" in class all that the teacher has to offer, but that doesn't mean he's mastered test taking and all the material that goes with it.</p>
<p>Our intend is NOT to spend days upon days studying for the ACT/SAT - but we would like to maximize the time he WILL dedicate to be beneficial.</p>
<p>And no offense, but when merit $$$ often depend on test scores, you bet our kids are going to take some time to be prepared!</p>
<p>^ But....most of ACT is NOT even HS material, it is Junior High or below. When I looked at it myself, I was ashamed that it is used for college admission. It is basically the test on speed, not any kind of background for college. And speed is not that important in college. My Ds slow reading had NO negative consequences in college academics. In this sense, I agree that some preparation is necessary to get familiar with the test format to be faster during exam and to refresh some math problems from 3-5 years ago. But as I mentioned before, it should not take more than 1 week, given importance of other activities in Junior/Senior year.</p>